The 2025 New Year is finally here! Here's to new beginnings, resolutions, and family time. And what better to spend the New Year than watching a few specials dedicated to the holiday? It's a great idea, especially when you plan on staying in and want to find a fun activity to do with your kids.
From Snoopy to Rudolph, and more, we're suggesting these specials to ring in 2025!
Watch these 5 New Year's specials to celebrate 2025
Happy New Year Charlie Brown! (1986)
In Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, the Peanuts gang, and Snoopy host a party where everyone joins in for the fun, games, and snacks. Snoopy even gets musically inclined. Everyone, except Charlie Brown, that is, for he was assigned to read Torvald's War and Peace, which has over 1,000 pages, over the holiday break. That's a lot for a kid, and to make things even worse, when Charlie arrives at the party, the girl he's in love with is dancing with his best friend. And he missed the Ball Drop.
Talk about starting the New Year on the wrong foot.
Where to watch: AppleTV+
Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne (2021)
In another Snoopy/Peanuts special, everyone gets ready for the holidays, and much to our approval, Snoopy has a family reunion with his siblings. Meanwhile, Lucy and Linus's grandmother cancel out on her visit, leaving Lucy very upset. She believes that the cancelation has to do with her, and to improve on the dire situation, Lucy hosts a New Year's Eve party with all the bells and whistles and Snoopy's band performing.
Where to watch: AppleTV+
Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)
Rankin and Bass Productions has unveiled another Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special. This time, the little reindeer must save New Year's as the Baby New Year, Happy has gone missing. During his mission, Rudolph meets a group of eccentric friends who are more than willing to help. However, the task isn't as simple, for Rudolph encounters Eon the Vulture, who makes the rescuing challenging. But Rudolph has dealt with worse, so Eon is just a tiny issue.
With gorgeous stop animation, comic Red Skelton providing the storytelling, and catchy songs, it's a must-watch each year.
Where to watch: AMC and Amazon Prime
Arthur's New Year's Eve (1996)
When Arthur ended in 2022 after 25 years, we were all heartbroken about it. The memes and memories will live on, thanks to the Arthur fandoms and our everyday usage, the memes and memories will live on.
Moving on, in Arthur's New Year's Eve, the bespeckled aardvark learns about his friends' NYE customs and traditions but becomes concerned for his Grandma Thora because of the New Year's Police. The eight-year-old and his sister, D.W., try to make it to Midnight to experience all the stuff he was told about. But NYE isn't only about the celebrations, but how you have grown over the past year and learning from them.
Where to watch: PBSKids.Org and the YouTube PBS Kids Channel
Bluey: "The Sleepover"
"The Sleepover" isn't exactly New Year's themed, but I'm taking every opportunity to squeeze Bluey in, as the Blue Heeler had quite the adventurous year. There's a new movie coming out, and Bluey herself has undergone some big changes.
In "The Sleepover", Muffin skips her afternoon nap and as a result, she's a hyperactive little bean and Bluey's responsibility to watch after her, despite being promised to stay up late. The episode is very relatable to kids and adults alike, as we tend to engage in strange behavior when overtired.